After the Second World War, Orthodox life in the Soviet Union continued under state control, although the scale and forms of pressure changed.
In the 1960s to the 1980s a generation of clergy and laity appeared who spoke out for freedom of religion, for restoring the independence of parishes and for open discussion of the problems of church life.
A special place in this history belongs to the priest Gleb Pavlovich Yakunin.
In 1965, together with a fellow priest, Fr Nikolai Eshliman, he addressed an open letter to Patriarch Alexy I, protesting against the violation of believers’ rights and against state interference in the internal affairs of the Church.
Fr Gleb went on to become one of the best-known figures of the Soviet human rights movement.
In 1976 he took part in founding the Christian Committee for the Defence of Believers’ Rights in the USSR. His work included documenting religious persecution, defending people of different faiths and spreading information about violations of freedom of conscience.
For this work Fr Gleb was prosecuted, imprisoned and sent into exile.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union he continued to champion the independence of religious life and the need to reform church institutions.
Another notable representative of the independent Orthodox tradition was the future Metropolitan Stefan (Linitsky), who was connected with the True Orthodox Church.
It was the joining of forces by such clergy and churchmen that laid the groundwork for the emergence of the Apostolic Orthodox Church.